First PIA flight leaves for Paris as Pakistani carrier resumes Europe operations

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Friday resumed its Europe operations with a flight to Paris, the Pakistani national air carrier said, following the removal of a four-year ban by European regulators.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) suspended PIA’s authorization to operate in the EU in June 2020 over concerns about the ability of Pakistani aviation authorities to ensure compliance with international standards.
EASA, United Kingdom and United States authorities suspended permission for PIA to operate in the region after Pakistan began investigating the validity of pilots’ licenses following a deadly plane crash that killed 97 people.
On Friday, PIA said it was resuming two direct weekly flights to Paris, and the first flight took off from Islamabad at 12:40pm Pakistan time.

“The suspension of flights caused billions of dollars in losses to the national airline and damaged its reputation,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement.
“By the grace of Allah, the government has restored the image of the national airline. After the resumption of flights to Europe, PIA is moving toward progress.”
In November, the EASA announced it had lifted the ban, however, the airline remains barred from flying in the UK and the United States. The airline flies to multiple cities inside Pakistan, including the mountainous north, as well as to the Gulf and Southeast Asia.

PIA, which employs 7,000 people, has long been accused of being bloated and poorly run — hobbled by unpaid bills, a poor safety record and regulatory issues.
Pakistan’s government has said it is committed to privatising the debt-ridden airline and has been scrambling to find a buyer. Late last year, a deal fell through after a potential buyer reportedly offered a fraction of the asking price.
The government hopes the opening of European routes, which officials expect will be followed by a similar announcement by the UK later this year, will boost its selling potential.
PIA posted losses of $270 million in 2023, according to local media. Its liabilities were nearly $3 billion, about five times the total worth of its assets.

In the same year, amid a national economic crisis, dozens of domestic flights were canceled when it could not afford fuel for its planes.
PIA came into being in 1955 when the government nationalized a loss-making commercial airline, and enjoyed rapid growth until the 1990s.